the Surface Headphones are an odd product in Microsoft’s line of Surface devices. Now over two years old, and still available for purchase at a near-launch price of $160 (opens in a new tab), Surface Earbuds might be the worst “Surface” branded device you can buy brand new right now. They were launched at a time when the wireless earphone space was heated and offered less than the competition while charging more.
Are they the best in audio quality? Definitely not. Are they the best designed? Most will say they are not. Are they the most comfortable? It depends, but I know a lot of people claim they don’t fit properly in their ears. Do they support wireless charging? No. Is the case premium? Mine scratches easily and the lid seems flimsy. Nothing about the product screams $160 premium headphones.
And these are just the problems with hardware in general, this does not include hardware and software faults of which there are many. Usually, a wearable device like this would receive several firmware updates during the product lifecycle as the company strives to improve them, especially on a first-gen device.
Frustratingly, absolutely nothing has happened with the Surface Earbuds since their launch. Taking a quick look at Surface Earbuds firmware update history page (opens in a new tab), the last time Surface Earbuds received any new features or fixes was…September 2020. That was over two years ago. The first firmware update came in May 2020 when the headphones launched, and then again in September 2020 when the “Graphite” colorway was released.
This implies that Microsoft thought the launch day version of each Surface Earbuds colorway was good enough not to need further updates, which is horribly wrong. Here’s a list of issues I’ve encountered in my two years of daily use of Surface Earbuds:
- Hissing noise from headphones when playing audio
- Audio desynchronization between left and right headphones
- Poor latency between headphones and connected device
- Bluetooth connection issues in crowded places
- One earphone not charging in the case
- Headphones can’t charge after the battery runs out
Some of these issues could certainly be fixed with firmware updates, but Microsoft hasn’t released one in over 28 months. Even though Microsoft continues to sell the Surface Earbuds brand new, at the full price of $200, I think it’s fair to say that this product has all but been discontinued.
Just because I was curious, I searched for update history details for other popular wireless earbuds. To compare, the Apple AirPods 2 received 7 firmware updates Since May 2020. The Nothing Ear 1 headphones have also received several since their launch in September 2021. Launching headphones and never updating them again is not the norm.
Additionally, Surface Headphones are Absolutely not worth $160 today. They were barely worth that in 2020. When you consider Nothing, OnePlus, and even Apple shipping wireless headphones for $150 or less with superior sound and active noise cancellation, there’s literally no reason to buy Surface Earphones right now.
My sources said that Microsoft is working on a successor to the Surface Earbuds, called Ella, which is expected to launch before the end of this year. We are now at the end of the year and that never happened. I hope they were just delayed and not cancelled, although I wouldn’t be surprised if they were.
Microsoft’s discontinuation of the first Surface Earbuds should be a huge red flag for any potential buyer of a second-gen pair. Why should anyone buy them if Microsoft is going to drop them the second they hit the market? This product segment is competitive, and many other brands will commit to supporting their own wireless headphones for longer.
If Surface Earbuds 2 end up shipping, hopefully Microsoft will do a much better job of supporting them for more than a few months. I also hope they have active noise cancellation, better design, and wireless charging, as that’s pretty much the norm for wireless headphones in the $200 price bracket these days.
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